At the very end of the book, after Laurel has used the faerie elixir to save her dad's life and delivered the diamond to her mom so they don't have to sell the land, she visits the land in Orick. The reason for her visit? To find out if Tamani survived being shot and tortured by Barnes.
And then, once Laurel has confirmed that Tamani is still alive, she has to say goodbye to him for a time. See, the trolls know where her parents live, and at least one of them (that good-for-nothing Barnes) knows that Laurel is actually a faerie living among humans. So Laurel has to live with her parents in order to protect them, as much as part of her wishes she could stay on the land with Tamani and learn more about her faerie heritage.
But saying goodbye isn't as straightforward as Laurel thought it would be. She's already learned that she was older than a toddler in faerie-years before coming to the human world, and her memories were erased, but Tamani still manages to drop a bomb on her in their final conversation when he says:
I knew you, Laurel, and you knew me. We were just friends, but we were such good friends […] You said you'd try to remember me, but they made you forget. I thought I would die the first time you looked at me and didn't recognize me. (25.73)
Yowza, that's quite the revelation.
Tamani says he'll wait for her, forever if he has to. They say goodbye, she turns around to leave… and that's when she realizes that she does feel something for him. When he vanishes, "it was as if the magic of the forest had left with him. The life that she could feel all around her—the magic that seeped through the gateway. The trees around her felt lifeless and empty without it" (25.92).
Laurel calls out to Tamani, asking him to wait for her, and they share one passionate kiss. In that moment, "she did feel like a part of him. As if their kiss bridged between two worlds, even if only for that brief, sparkling moment" (25.96). Laurel tells Tamani that a part of her does remember him and care for him, and then they say goodbye for real, and she returns to the human world.
It's kind of a sad ending, now that we know Laurel has feelings for Tamani, though she doesn't quite reciprocate the strength of his feelings for her. But we also know she's really into David, and she plans on being with him, at least so long as she's playing human.
Remember, Shmoopers: This is the first book in a series, so as much as it wraps the story up, it also leaves us with plenty of questions. What will happen with the Laurel/David/Tamani love triangle? Will the trolls find her human family? Can Laurel stay close to her parents forever? Or will it get to the point where she moves to Avalon and sends them postcards once in a while to say hi? We're not quite sure where any of this will lead, but, you know, that's what sequels are for.